784 The Aftermath
It had been five days since Bali began his battle with Mirage Queen. Thankfully, Bali was able to keep his head on his shoulders and hold a stalemate.
Bali expected major injuries at least. But for some reason, Mirage Queen seemed to be in a weakened state.
'Perhaps it's for closing the Abyss?'
Bali thought as he watched the Mirage Queen leave the battlegrounds.
But unlike usual, she didn't leave the planetoid to heal her injuries and stayed there.
The level 9s that came with her were also settled on their respective planetoids.
Bali understood their goal.
Mirage Queen wanted to lock Bali down with herself. The level 9s of Abyssals would lock down the human level 9s.
After the changes in the Abyss, they didn't need to worry about Varian's terror attacks.
Right now, they had a small excess of level 9s compared to Mars. Using this, they hoped to slowly conquer the planetoids.
There were several geniuses from Mars that could take on two Abyssals in the same sub-realm.
So, it's going to be easy.
Mars had been under the threat of destruction since Kreo's death. Only now did it truly gain safety.
The Federation thus gave a green light for the reverse migration.
— — —
Varian was in a good mood after the mission's success.
Since Mirage Queen was in a temporarily weakened state, Bali had the opportunity to familiarize himself with his powers.
Even though Bali wouldn't be having the upper hand in their subsequent battles anytime soon, he would be able to hold his own without the fear of death.
"Varian," Sia's soft voice sounded in his mind and jolted him out of his thoughts.
Varian glanced around and saw that the people behind him in the queue were getting impatient.
Even though there were more than twenty queues for this monument, there were more than 100,000 people in his immediate sight.
'Who would've thought…'
Taking a deep breath, Varian turned to the large Stele with a solemn expression.
On the Stele, the names of the fifty level 9s that gave up their lives to buy Mars the crucial hours it desperately needed were engraved.
Varian recognized each and every name on the Stele.
Particularly, the one at the very top.
Skad
'I know asking for forgiveness after causing your deaths due to my own recklessness is vile.' Varian bowed his head to the martyrs.
'I caused your deaths. I'm sorry. I just wanted to torment the person I hate. If I knew the consequences would be so tragic and so many people would lose their lives over due to my decision, I would've never touched Kreo.'
Varian's body shook as the images of the destruction flashed in his mind.
Millions, no, tens of millions of deaths. Countless families were broken. Billions of people were displaced.
The bravest heroes of Mars had to give up their lives just to buy some time. The bravest of them all, Skad, burnt his whole life to buy two minutes.
'I…' Varian's fingers dug into his palms and blood splattered on the ground. His eyebrows trembled violently as he stared at the Stele with a burning gaze.
A part of him wanted to close his eyes shut and apologize.
But Varian refused. He stared at the Stele and burned every name into his memory.
'Apology is useless. So, I promise you. I will take good care of the world you gave your lives for. I will.'
When he made that promise, Varian felt a weight in his heart vanish. The gloominess, guilt, and shame were burnt away by his soaring ambition.
It was as if the world had come to life and his role had just begun.
Varian took one last glance at the Stele before he left.
On his way back, Varian paused as his glance rested on a woman in the queue. She resembled the High General.
She was petite with brown hair and a similar facial structure.
'Boo is she…'
'Yes, Master. She's his daughter.'
'I see.'
When the woman reached Stele, a man walked up to her through a special channel and handed her the baby in his arms.
The woman held the baby gently and showed him the Stele.
Her lips parted as she introduced the grandson to the grandfather and told them about each other.
"Father, you promised to see him," Skyla said as she looked at her father's name. "But your grandson came to you."
"Skad, say hello to your grandfather," The woman held her baby's arm gently and waved it at the Stele.
Then, she nodded at Stele, as if she was answering a question. "Yes, it's your name. If not for those two minutes you bought with your own life, I and your grandson would've both been killed by her."
Skyla bit her lip as her eyes turned red, "So, I'm forgiving you, father."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed like a little girl. "P-Please be happy wherever you are. I will be happy. I will raise y-your grandson well. He will make you proud."
A gentle breeze brushed Skyla's head.
"Father?!"
Skyla looked around as she still couldn't believe the familiar feeling on her head. Only he patted her that way. Only him…
Skyla took a deep breath and offered the flowers to Stele before bowing and returning.
The flowers she offered gently shook as if waving her a final goodbye.
— — —
Watching Varian walking back toward her, Sia sighed.
She didn't want him to carry this guilt. It didn't matter if millions or billions died, Sia didn't care.
'This world be damned for all I care, I just want him to be happy.' Sia clenched her fists behind her back and waved at Varian with a smile.
"Var!"
Her voice was like honey, and everyone who heard it couldn't help but look at her in surprise.
She was like the moon among the stars, overshadowing everyone with her mere presence.
The men and women alike thought she was too beautiful to be real.
Right!
She must be a new promotional hologram to heal the war woun—
"Let's go!"
Varian, currently wearing in a disguise, said and Sia responded with a bright smile. "What do you want for dinner?"
'Wait, she is real?' The nearby crowd was flabbergasted.
"Something that goes good with wine."
"You shouldn't drink so much."
"Just this one night."
"Fine~"
Under the infatuated and envious gazes of the crowd, the couple left the district under the sunset.
They still remained three feet away from each other, but their shadows no longer had any distance separating them.
